


maybe i fell in love

by restitched (beingothrwrldly)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-03 02:30:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4083259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beingothrwrldly/pseuds/restitched
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Bobby wants a photo first and Niall agrees to one serious photo if they can do a goofy one too, so Zayn poses with his tongue out and his nose scrunched as Niall jumps on his back like a monkey and hugs him around the neck. "Be careful with his suit, Niall!" Bobby scolds him but they're all laughing. It's just a suit, Zayn thinks. It's just a suit.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Or, Zayn takes Niall to a formal school dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	maybe i fell in love

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a year and a few months ago and then forgot about it until recently, and I just love it too much to let it sit on my computer forever. Unbetaed and unbritpicked so all mistakes are mine; the title comes from Ed Sheeran's Wake Me Up.

Zayn shows up early to Niall's dad's place. He wears a dark gray tux, a bit tight in the shoulders but his mum had insisted it looked right this way. "You look beautiful, love," she'd said, and her eyes had sparkled with tears when she'd hugged him.

"Mum," he'd whispered, but hugged back all the same. "It's just a dance, y'don't have to..." But she'd sniffed a bit, then, and he'd trailed off.

He carries a small box to the door and knocks three times. Bobby opens the door and breaks into a smile when he sees Zayn, and Zayn straightens up a bit. "Hello, sir," he says. "I'm here for Niall?" 

Niall's bounding down the stairs before Zayn can really finish speaking, but he trips over his own feet as he gets to the bottom step. He catches himself on the banister and lets out a small huff of breath, says, "Oh." Just that word, just one syllable, and then he takes a deep breath and smiles brighter than the sun. "Alright, hello. Look at you!" 

Zayn feels the blush deep in his cheeks, passing across to his earlobes and down the back of his neck, and he squints a little and rubs the backs of his fingers under his chin as he smiles. "Shall we go, then?"

Bobby wants a photo first and Niall agrees to one serious photo if they can do a goofy one too, so Zayn poses with his tongue out and his nose scrunched as Niall jumps on his back like a monkey and hugs him around the neck. "Be careful with his suit, Niall!" Bobby scolds him but they're all laughing. It's just a suit, Zayn thinks. It's just a suit.

The serious photo is much better, Zayn thinks when Bobby shows it to them. Zayn is smiling at the camera but Niall's not even looking, he's turned to watch Zayn at the exact minute Bobby snapped the photo, and he's smiling too but he groans when he sees it. "C'mon, I wasn't even looking, take another one," he complains until Bobby takes another one, Zayn's hand low and confident on the small of Niall's back as they both smile at the camera this time. Niall doesn't even seem to mind that he's been tricked into two serious photos and Zayn asks Bobby to send him the first one anyway. 

Zayn doesn't even remember the boutonnière until they're in the back of the car; he groans and says, "Your dad's going to be so disappointed."

"C'mon, it's fine, it's fine," Niall says, "I'll be the photographer. Pin it to my jacket and I'll take pictures while ya do. It'll be like he's here." So that's how they do it, Niall taking blurry photos on his phone at awkward angles while Zayn tries to pin it on straight. 

"Oh, it looks awful, like," Zayn says, but Niall makes a peace sign and takes a selfie.

"No!" Niall grabs Zayn's shoulder and pulls him close. "I love it, it's perfect," he adds as he snaps another picture, this time getting them both in the shot.

 

The dance has already started when they walk in, and Zayn is sort of impressed with the way it's decorated. Lights are hanging from the ceiling, sparkling and twinkling like a starlit sky. It's beautiful and simple, perfect. 

Niall puts his hand under Zayn's bicep, leans close. "D'you want something to drink?" he asks, and Zayn shakes his head. "Alright." Niall lets go of his arm and Zayn follows him over to the punch bowl. "Don't want to get dehydrated," Niall says as he ladles out some of the punch into a small plastic cup. "You're sure you don't want some?"

"'M alright," Zayn nods. 

Niall takes a sip and grins at him. It could be the punch, Zayn thinks, maybe, but his lips look extra red and Zayn shivers. "This is fun, yeah?" Niall asks. He sounds a bit eager, hopeful, and Zayn smiles and ducks his head.

"Course it is, yeah," he says as a slow song comes on, and he glances up at Niall. 

"Oh, hey," Niall says, and he bites his bottom lip.

"Are we..." Zayn starts, but he's not quite sure how to finish. "Um."

Niall downs the rest of his punch and stands up straighter. "Are you asking me to dance now?" He smiles big at Zayn and holds out his hand. "C'mon. I'm askin' you instead, take some of the pressure off."

Zayn looks at Niall's hand and then up at Niall, his eyes bright and hopeful, and Zayn's heart falls. This isn't supposed to be his night, it's supposed to be Niall's night. Niall had been the one who wanted this to be fun and perfect and memorable, this is supposed to be for him. So Zayn shakes his head, says "No," and before Niall's shoulders fall too much Zayn holds out his hand and says, "May I have this dance?"

Niall's smile comes back twice as bright, ten times as big, and he takes Zayn's hand and follows him out to the dance floor. They find a spot towards the edge of the crowd, and as Zayn pulls Niall closer he can see the lights sparkle in his eyes, catching the hints of blond in his hair. He puts his hand on the small of Niall's back and pulls him close; he means to let go of Niall's hand but he just can't, so instead he takes their hands between them, presses Niall's hand flat to his own chest and presses his own hand over Niall's hand. 

Niall sighs softly and Zayn presses his cheek to Niall's, and that's how it begins. They dance slowly, deliberately, keeping time with the ebb and flow of the rhythm of the song. It's vaguely familiar to Zayn and he hums softly along with the chorus. He closes his eyes and wants this to last forever; after another verse, Niall presses a bit closer and whispers, "Zayn?"

Zayn's not sure if he means it as a question or not and he swallows hard; the flutters in his stomach get stronger and he curls his fingers around the edges of Niall's palm, still flat against his chest close to his heart. His heart is pounding, thumping hard enough that he's sure Niall can feel it. 

"D'you believe that we've all got paths in life?" Zayn whispers in between lines of the song, and he thinks that maybe, when Niall looks back, he'll think this is just part of the music. Maybe Niall will hear this song on the radio, years from now, and his eyes will go distant; he'll smile like he's remembering a dream.

"I believe life is what we make it," Niall whispers back. "Depends what you mean by paths. We take our own paths, I think. Yeah."

"Niall," Zayn whispers, and he turns his face a fraction, his lips brushing the shell of Niall's ear. "I think we..."

"Shh," Niall whispers. He reaches up and curls his hand around the back of Zayn's neck. "Don't, okay?" He presses his thumb behind Zayn's ear, and Zayn thinks maybe he's checking for a pulse. Maybe Niall wonders the same things he wonders, Zayn thinks. Maybe. He feels hopeful. 

"But I," Zayn starts, but the song ends and he pauses, holds his breath. Another song starts, another blissfully slow song, and he feels Niall sigh again and pulls him just a bit closer. There are guitars strumming and it's warm, like being sat around the campfire during the summer. Zayn inhales and half expects to smell smoke. 

"You," Niall says softly. "You what?"

Zayn turns his face and buries his nose in Niall's hair, closes his eyes. "I think we've gone down a path, Niall," he murmurs. He tightens his grip on Niall's hand and curls his fingers in the fabric of his jacket; Niall is holding his breath, fingertips drumming soft on the back of Zayn's neck. "Don't you?"

"I don't know," Niall whispers, and his words sound intentional, careful. "What type of path d'you mean?"

 _I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart,_ is how the song goes, and Zayn lets out a breath. This is it, he tells himself, this must be it, and he rubs his thumb across the second knuckle of Niall's index finger. "I'd like to call you sweetheart," he whispers, his voice soft as the breeze. "I'd like to dance like this under real stars. I'd like to look at you the way you looked at me in that photo at your dad's, I'd like to take you to dinner every Saturday night and talk to you on the phone until we fall asleep."

Niall laughs softly and turns his hand a little bit, enough so Zayn can fit their fingers together, and he presses his lips to Zayn's neck. Zayn can feel him smiling. "You're a mess," Niall whispers against his skin. "We already do all those things."

 _I belong with you,_ the song repeats, and Zayn says, "Yes, yeah, but not like," and then Niall squeezes the back of his neck.

"You're so stupid," he whispers, but the letters that make up the words, they're filled with love and they're fond, so fond; Zayn hears explosions when Niall says them, fireworks sparkling when he closes his eyes. Zayn is sure his heartbeat's about to pound out of his ears like they're speakers. "You're so stupid."

"Let's do this forever, please," Zayn whispers. "My heart's fit to burst, I love you too much." He presses a kiss to Niall's temple and keeps it there, inhales softly. "Please," he whispers again, but it gets lost in the strum of guitar. The music hits a break; Zayn feels like he holds his breath for hours.

"You're my sweetheart already, you idiot," Niall whispers. His voice is thick, serious, and Zayn's heart immediately slows down. "You _idiot_ ," Niall repeats, and he pulls back and cups Zayn's cheek and looks into his eyes. "What on earth are you on about, why would you be this nervous?" He presses his hand to Zayn's chest, a bit above where it's been but right over his heart, and Zayn blushes. 

"Could you tell," he says, not really a question, but Niall doesn't have to answer. Niall laughs, instead, and then he leans up and kisses him, soft and sweet. _You belong with me,_ the song fades out, _you're my sweet_ , and Zayn thinks _yes yes yes_.


End file.
